OCLC and IZUM to investigate partnership to develop library information systems in the Western Balkans

OCLC and IZUM to investigate partnership to develop library information systems in the Western Balkans

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 17 November 2011—OCLC and IZUM, the Institute of Information Science in Slovenia, have signed a Letter of Intent to investigate establishment of a strategic partnership to develop national library information systems in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.

OCLC and IZUM will investigate forming a partnership to integrate core products and services from both organisations to provide an effective management and information discovery environment for libraries within COBISS.Net, the network that connects autonomous COBISS (Co-operative Online Bibliographic System and Services) library information systems of different countries and their current research information systems.

OCLC and IZUM will look into ways to develop, localize and implement OCLC Web-scale Management Services and COBISS applications. They will plan to load records from the union catalogues of participating countries into WorldCat and from WorldCat to the catalogues of the libraries within the COBISS.Net network. The organisations will also look into ways to distribute OCLC products and services in the nine countries.

"Convergence of synergies is always the best possible way to make progress," said Davor Sostaric, Director of IZUM. "This is especially true in development processes. I am sure we will all benefit from such a partnership. IZUM’s well-established services in the COBISS.Net countries combined with OCLC’s worldwide network of library services will be a great step forward for the whole region."

"IZUM has successfully supported library cooperation and provided library services in Eastern Europe for decades," said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. "Our mission and goals are similar. We look forward to working with IZUM and the libraries and systems they represent to facilitate library cooperation worldwide."

"We are delighted to reinforce our relationship with IZUM," said Eric van Lubeek, Managing Director of OCLC Europe, Middle East and Africa. "OCLC and IZUM libraries and their users will certainly benefit from such a partnership—in Europe, and around the world."

About IZUM

The Institute of Information Science (IZUM) is a public institution established by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia as an information infrastructural service for Slovenian science, culture and education. Along with other agents of information activities in the country, it ensures Slovenia an entrance to the streams of the modern world’s information society. This defines its mission; its functions are specified in the Foundation Act, passed by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia. According to the Research and Development Act, it is defined as a public infrastructural institution and registered as a research organisation as well. According to the Librarianship Act, it is defined as a library information service in the COBISS.SI national bibliographic system. IZUM provides the same reference model of the COBISS to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia; all these systems are interconnected and thus represent the core of the COBISS.Net regional network.

About OCLC

Founded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing library costs. More than 72,000 libraries in 170 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend, preserve and manage library materials. Researchers, students, faculty, scholars, professional librarians and other information seekers use OCLC services to obtain bibliographic, abstract and full-text information when and where they need it. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the world’s largest online database for discovery of library resources. Search WorldCat on the Web at www.worldcat.org. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.